Desert Groundswell

By Blake Sorour

"A three month working contract in Dubai left me and one of my mates daydreaming of the waves back home while we sat infront of our laptops building our travelling reserves.
 
When we caught wind of the wave park somewhere in the UAE, the grom froth buried within us was immediately brought back to life and we had to check it out...

That weekend we woke up early, navigated our way through the morning desert mist, and an hour and a half later we found ourselves standing at the base of the Jebel Hafeet mountain in Al Ain outside Wadi Adventure. After getting ridiculously lost (street signs must be taboo in Al Ain) we met up with a fellow Port Elizabethan who was already in the water as the swell had started to jack. 

Before the hydraulic pumps could refill to push through another wave, we had made our way out to the backline ready for the next set. That is the first time it sunk in - it is a surreal feeling to be floating in a concrete wave pool, at the base of a mountain, in the middle of the desert.
 
Every time I chat to my mates there are usually three questions: Firstly what is the wave like, secondly what did it cost and thirdly how many guys are in the pool at once.

What is the wave like - to be honest, the wave is no Supers or Elands, but considering it is a wave park I was super impressed. There are 6 different height settings (was at setting 5 in the video as there wasn't enough water in the pool to crank it to 6), the wave can be set to a right, left or centre peak which runs in both directions. They can also play with the timing of the hydraulic pumps to make the wave run all the way to the shore or close at the end section so you can try land your rodeo flips...

What did it cost - taking that 1 AED is = 2.5 ZAR, entrance is R250 (100AED) and you can book the pool out for an hour for R1,500 (600AED), if you don't book the whole pool out for a private session, you can join an open session for an hour for R250 (100AED)

How many guys are in the pool at once - well this purely depends on how cash flush you are as you could book it out for yourself, but the pool is limited to 6 people in the water in a session. After having surfed it I would say 2 to 3 (max) is optimum. I say this considering the time in between waves is 90 seconds as the pumps need to refill with water.
 
All in all, I left that wave park super stoked and it was a really cool experience, but nothing beats good old mother nature."

Check out Blake's schweet lil edit of their surf at Wadi.